1.
What is the Great Chain of Being?
2.
Main Idea
3.
The Great Chain of Being
4.
What determines the order of the Chain?
5.
How are the links of the Chain connected?
6.
How do the links reflect each other?
7.
Disorder
8.
Politics and the Chain
9.
How does the Chain work?
10.
Shakespeare and the Great Chain of Being
This image of the Great Chain of Being is from 1579. It shows a
divinely inspired universal hierarchy, or ladder. All forms of life are ranked
between heaven and hell.
It is a way of understanding the word
that was current in Europe from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance and the
Restoration and into the early 1700s.
The central concept of the chain of being is that everything
imaginable fits into the chain somewhere, giving order and meaning to the
universe. The Great Chain of Being extends from God down to the lowest forms of
life, and even to the trees and stones of the earth. This Great Chain, first
described by St. Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century, is what holds
the word together.
Kings/Queens
Archbishops
Dukes/Duchesses
Bishops
Marquises/Marchionesses
Earls/Countesses
Viscounts/Viscountesses
Barons/Baronesses
Abbots/Deacons
Knights/Local Officials
Ladies-in-Waiting
Priests/Monks
Squires
Pages
Messengers
Merchants/Shopkeepers
Tradesmen
Yeomen Farmers
Soldiers/Town Watch
Household Servants
Tenant Farmers
Shepherds/Herders
Beggars
Actors
Thieves/Pirates
Gypsies
Beasts
Birds
Worms
The following information about the Great
Chain of Being is adapted from the book
The Elizabethan World Picture (published
in 1942) by E.M.W. Tillyard (1889-1962), a British
classical scholar and literary scholar:
•
The pace
of an object or animal or human depends on the proportion of "spirit"
and "matter" it contains— the less "spirit" and the more
"matter," the lower down it is.
•
Within
each of the main groups, there are other hierarchies. For exampe, among metals,
gold is the nobest and at the top; lead has less "spirit" and more
matter, and so is lower.
• There is continuity between the segments: shellfish are lowest among
animals and can bend into the plants, because, like plants, they cannot move.
•
The sun governs the panets, a king rules his
subjects, a parent rules
a child, and within a person, reason rules the emotions. If disorder is present in one
realm, it is correspondingly reflected in other realms.
•
Man is
seen as a microcosm, a "little word," that reflects the structure of
the word as a whole (the macrocosm). Just as the word is composed of four
"elements"—earth, water, air, and fire—the human body is composed of
four comparable substances called "humours": blood, back bile, yellow
bile, and phlegm.
•
Illness
occurs when there is an imbalance or "disorder" among the humours. An
exampe is in Shakespeare's King Lear: the disorder in family relationships (a child
ruling a parent) and in the state (a subject ruling the king) is reflected in
the disorder of Lear's mind (his loss of reason) and in the disorder of nature
(the raging storm). Lear even says his loss of reason is "a tempest in my
mind."
•
According
to the Chain of Being, all existing things have their precise place and
function in the universe. To leave your proper place is to betray your nature.
•
Human
beings are between the beasts and the angels. This makes life difficult for
mankind.
•
To act against human nature by not blowing
reason to rule the emotions is to descend to the level of the beasts. To try to
rise to your proper, set place, as Eve did when Satan tempted her, is to court
disaster.
•
Exampes
in drama of the consequences of a character going beyond the boundaries of the
Chain of Being are found in Marlowe's pay Doctor Faustus and in Shakespeare's Macbeth.
•
Disorder would
occur if a people rose against their king. The belief in the Chain's order
helped rulers immensely. Civil rebellion would break the chain, and this would
have dire consequences. Rebellion was a sin against God, at least wherever
rulers claimed to rule by "divine right" (see page 39).
•
In Shakespeare's work, civil disorders are often
accompanied by meteoric disturbances in the heavens—for example, in Julius Caesar.
•
Because
the Chain of Being provided a rationale for the authority of monarchs, it also
suggested that there was ideal behaviour for these rulers. Much Renaissance
literature is concerned with the ideals of kingship and with the character and
behaviour of rulers, as in Shakespeare's Henry #.
Every being in Creation has its place in
the Chain; this entails authority and a certain degree
of responsibility to the rest of the
Chain.
As long as each bein g knows its place and does its
duty, all will be well.
•
is outside the physical limitations of time.
•
possesses
the spiritual attributes of reason, love, and imagination, like all spiritual
beings.
•
alone
possesses the divine attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence.
•
are outside the physical limitations of time.
•
are
spiritual beings and can rule over humanity, the rest of the animals and the
inanimate word.
•
possess
reason, love, imagination, sensory awareness, and language.
•
lack the
divine attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence that God has,
and lack the physical passions of humans.
Note: The
primate, or superior type of angel, is the seraph (plural seraphim).
•
occupy a unique position on the Chain of Being.
They are both spiritual and physical. They must balance the divine and animal
parts of their nature.
•
are like
Angels in that they possess divine powers such as reason, love, and
imagination, and are spiritual beings.
•
are like
Animals in that they are joined to a physical body. They have passions and physical
sensations—pain, hunger, thirst, and desire—just like other animals lower on
the Chain of Being. Their sensory attributes are limited by physical organs.
They can only know through the five senses.
•
possess
the powers of reproduction, unlike the minerals and rocks lowest on the Chain
of Being.
•
can rule
over the rest of the natural word, uprooting weeds and panting gardens, digging
up metals and shaping them into tools, and so on.
The human primate is the King.
The Divine
Rig ht of King s (see page 39) (the idea that a monarch's right
to rule over the common people comes directly from God) also teaches that the
king is at the top of humanity's social order.
Within the family, the father is head of
the household; below him, his wife; below her, their children. Male children
are one link above female children.
•
have
natural authority over both inanimate pants and minerals. For instance, horses
can trample the rocks and earth; they can also eat pants.
•
are like
humans in that they are capable of independent movement and possess physical
appetites and sensory attributes. They have limited intelligence and awareness
of their surroundings.
•
are
unlike humans in that they lack spiritual and mental attributes, such as
immortal souls, and the ability to use logic and language.
Notes:
The primate of all animals, the "King
of Beasts," is either the lion or the elephant.
However, each subgroup of animals also has
its own primate.
At the top of the animals are wild beasts,
which are superior in that they are not domesticated. Below them are domestic
animals, divided so that working animals, such as dogs and horses, are higher
than docile animals, such as sheep. Predators are above herbivores in the
Chain.
•
linked to
the element of air, are considered superior to aquatic creatures linked to the
element of water.
•
are also
subdivided. Birds of
Prey (hawks, owls, etc.) outrank Carrion Birds (vultures, crows), which
in turn outrank "Worm-Eating
" Birds (robins, etc.), which are above "Seed-Eating " Birds
(sparrows, etc.)
Note: The
avian (bird) primate is the eagle.
•
come
below birds, and are subdivided into actual fish and other sea creatures.
•
At the
very bottom of the fish section are unmoving creatures like oysters, clams, and
barnacles. Like the plants below them, these creatures lack mobility and
sensory organs for sight and hearing. However, they are considered superior to
plants because they have tactile and gustatory senses (touch and taste).
Note: The
piscine (fish) primate is the whale or dolphin.
•
Useful
insects such as spiders and bees, and attractive insects such as ladybirds and
dragonflies, are at the top, and unpeasant insects such as flies and beetles
and mosquitoes are at the bottom.
•
are at
the very bottom of the animal sector and are relegated to this position as
punishment for the serpent's actions (tempting Eve) in the Garden of Eden.
punishment for the serpent's actions (tempting Eve) in the Garden of Eden.
•
have
authority and ability to rule over only minerals. Because they are superior to
unmoving rock and soil, the plants can take nourishment from them and grow on
them, while the minerals and soil support them.
•
like
other living creatures, possess the ability to grow and to reproduce.
•
lack
mental attributes and possess no sensory organs. Instead, they can
"eat" soil, air, and "heat."
•
tolerate
heat and cold well, and are immune to the pain most animals feel.
Notes:
The primate of pants is the oak tree.
In general, trees rank higher than shrubs, shrubs rank higher than
bushes, bushes rank higher than cereal crops, and cereal crops rank higher than
herbs, ferns, and weeds.
At the very bottom of the botanical
hierarchy, the fungus and moss, without leaves and blossoms, are thought to be
scarcely above the level of minerals. However, each plant is also thought to
have various edible or medicinal properties.
•
lack
plants' basic ability to grow and reproduce.
•
lack the
mental attributes and sensory organs found in higher beings.
•
have
unusual solidity and strength. Many minerals, particularly gems, are thought to
possess magical powers. The lapidarian primate is the diamond,
followed by various gems (rubies, sapphires, topaz, chrysolite, etc.).
•
Metals
are further subdivided: the metallic primate is gold, then various metals
(silver, iron, bronze, copper, tin).
•
Rocks
(with granite and marble at the top), soil (sub-divided between nutrient-rich
soil and low-quality types), sand, grit, dust, and, at the very bottom of the
entire Great Chain, dirt. A reference to the Great Chain of Being that survives
in today's English language is the insult that one is "lower than
dirt," which refers to dirt's place at the bottom of the Chain.
Note: The
geological primate is marble,
then various stones, granite, sandstone, limestone, etc. At the
very bottom of the mineral section are soil, dust, and sand.
Ag ain& The central concept of the Great Chain of
Being is that everythin g imag inable fits into it somewhere, g iving order and
meanin g to the universe.
•
An
overarching theme in Shakespeare's works is that divine and natural order must
be followed or dire consequences will ensue.
•
Many of
Shakespeare's plays are based on the principle of the Divine Right of Kings (see page 39).
•
Well-known examples include the
many disturbances in nature in Macbeth and Julius Caesar. After Macbeth murders King Duncan, horses eat each
other; and in Julius Caesar, after Caesar's murder, "the sheeted dead do
squeak and gibber in the streets".
•
Another
example of order in family life is seen at the end of The Taming of the Shrew, when
Kate gives a much-discussed speech on the pace of wives and husbands. The
imagery makes clear the domestic order of the times:
Thy husband is
thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy
sovereign
And craves no
other tribute at thy hands
But love, fair
looks and true obedience;
Too little
payment for so great a debt.
Such duty as the
subject owes the prince Even such a woman oweth to her husband;
And when she is
froward, peevish, sullen, sour,
And not obedient
to his honest will,
What is she but
a foul contending rebel And graceless traitor to her loving lord?
I am ashamed
that women are so simple To offer war where they should kneel for peace;
Or seek for
rule, supremacy and sway,
When they are
bound to serve, love and obey. (Act V, sc. ii)
What is it?
•
It is the
belief that a monarch has been chosen by God and has total power over all his
subjects.
•
It is
part of the Great Chain of Being.
•
The
belief in the Great Chain of Being meant that monarchy was ordained by God, and
was part of the very structure of the universe. Rebellion was a sin, not only
against the state but against heaven itself, for the king was God's appointed
deputy on earth, with semi-divine powers.
•
King James I wrote, "The state of monarchy
is the supremest thing upon earth: for kings are not only God’s Lieutenants
upon earth, and sit upon God’s throne, but even by God himself they are called
Gods.”
•
It is not all one-sided: the King has a moral
responsibility to God and to his peope. In return for his absolute power, he is
expected to rule his subjects with love, wisdom, and justice. To do otherwise
is to abandon those natural qualities that make a noble fit to rule in the
first place. Abusing regal authority is a perversion of divine order.
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